Happy 3 months, Penelope! (+ an Owlet giveaway!)

Miss P is still smiling like crazy, babbling and cooing to her heart’s delight, and chewing on her hands like they’re a delectable treat. I’m convinced that she’s teething because she is always gnawing on her hands, but the ped said she’s still a little young to be teething. Either way, she’s growing like crazy.

We hit a major turning point with the reflux. A huge part of the puzzle was switching her to Elecare formula (as sad as I was to give up breastfeeding), and thickening it with brown rice cereal. At first, I couldn’t help but think “she’s way too little,” but when she still wasn’t gaining weight appropriately, I was willing to try whatever the ped suggested. For the first time EVER, she gained a pound in between weight checks! I was so, so thrilled. The Elecare formula is very thin and watery, so it was all coming back up (but she was no longer screaming or choking on it). A teaspoon of rice cereal has made the formula stay down, so she’s gaining weight now and HAPPY. I also think that like anything, time has been a huge factor. As her body as matured a little bit, it’s been easier for her to eat and keep it down so, so much better.

Snuggles before nap time. I’ll lie with her on our bed until she’s calm and comfy before transferring her to the bassinet or crib

Hanging out with her big sis

“This Little Piggy” and “Pat A Cake”

Bath time with Liv

Miss P is officially too big for the bassinet, and we’re slowly transitioning her to the crib. We’re also going to ditch the swaddle since she’s thisclose to completely rolling over. Big changes ahead! I was horrified about having her sleep in another room, especially because of the choking episodes, but we got something that has given me peace of mind: the Owlet Baby Care Smart Sock.

I had been looking at monitoring options online, and combed through so many reviews. I didn’t want something that was notorious for false alarms, and also wanted something a little more dependable than strictly movement-sensored or audio based. While we have a video monitor, it doesn’t paint a full picture of how the baby is doing, and I was worried that if she choked during the night, I wouldn’t be able to hear it on the monitor with the sound turned out. The Owlet was everything we needed, and needless to say, I was thrilled and so thankful when they offered to send us one.

What I love about the Owlet:

-The technology is at-home pulse oximetry monitoring for babies, which monitors heart rate and oxygen levels. This is the same technology they use at doctor’s offices and hospitals, in a portable, soft little sock.

-You slip the sock on the baby’s left foot, and the data is monitored and accessible through your smart phone and through a base station in another room. We have the pod set up on my nightstand, which illuminates in green. If there’s ever a problem, an alarm will sound and the base station will turn red. I love that I can check and see how she’s doing during nap time and view her stats for peace of mind. The base is independent of wifi, so if your phone dies, you can count on it to alert you if your baby’s rate dips too low, rises too high, or oxygen levels dip below a preset threshold.

-As you guys know, we had some pretty horrific choking incidents with the reflux. Since then, it’s been my greatest fear that P will choke during the night. This is why she’s been in the bassinet, right next to me, for so long. Now I feel like we can transition her to another room, without my anxiety driving me up the wall.

I’ve been so thankful and thrilled with the technology that I reached out to my friends at Owlet to see if they’d mind giving one away to a lucky reader. They said yes! 🙂

Here’s how to enter:

Leave a comment below! Are you expecting, or would you give it to a friend or relative?

Former NICU nurse here. Currently 36 weeks huge – we are so lucky to be this far along and healthy! However, I barely slept a wink after we brought our first home – I was in a full panic when I had to take my own home without all of the monitoring that I had been trained to use when looking out for so many other little ones. The Owlet is a dream come true but just not something we can splurge on right now. Hoping to win the unit…and the sleep that would come with it! Thank you for the opportunity!

My son was born 2 months premature because I had preeclampsia. He was in the NICU for 37 days. We have been home for about a month now but it’s still hard to sleep at night without the reassurance of the hospital monitors. The Owlet would be perfect for us to have the peace of mind that he is ok while we sleep. Thank you for the opportunity!

I am an expecting foster mom waiting on my first baby placement. I have been looking at the owlet sock for awhile, because I know many of the babies who will come into our care will have extra medical needs.
In foster care, we say that it is a sacred trust to raise another person’s child. Having this sock would be huge in setting our minds at ease that we are doing everything in our power to honor that trust.

I would LOVE 2 WIN this!!!! My baby has epilepsy, we r @ the hospital every few weeks… It’d be nice when we r not @ the hospital & on their monitors 2 be able 2 get restfull sleep,…not have 2 worry as much knowing he is being monitored & safe

I remember with my first baby I would be so scared to death that he had stopped breathing, I would actually make a loud sound into the monitor to see him twitch so I could go back to sleep… I am due in April with a baby girl and would love the piece of mind of having the owlet for my own sanity and of course to not wake baby up with my annoying sounds just to make sure they are still breathing. I love the idea of this!!!

He is our first blessing after two miscarriages. I was put on a progesterone regimen in the first trimester and i am now 17 weeks and starting to feel Kaine kick more and more. The Owlet is top priority for my husband and I as i have lost a cousin to SIDS.

Our baby is currently 39 weeks corrected, 3 months actual, and was born in November although her due date was February 20th and she is still in the NICU. We hope to be going home soon as we are still working on feeding and battling reflux as well. What makes our story even more interesting is Kenzie was born while we were on vacation in Virginia and we live in Alaska! So we’ve been away from home since the end of October. I’ve been looking at the owlet to give us some peice of mind once we are able to take Kenzie home.

I am expecting my first baby and would love to win an owlet monitor. Being first time parents i think this would help relieve a lot of the worries and stresses we have about monitoring and caring for our child.

I would love to win the owlet for my rainbow baby, Nora ! As a mom of two angel baby boys, my anxiety about leaving my daughter in her room alone is so heightened. This would give me such peace of mind.

We are expecting our first baby and would love to get an owlet monitor. Being first time parents we are nervous about what could go wrong and an owlet monitor would put our minds at ease knowing that something will be constantly monitoring our baby.

I love this!!! I tell all my friends about it! This would be awesome to win!!! <3 with so many babies having problems while sleeping, it's so important to have products you can trust to keep your baby safe!

Love this! I am a first time mom of a 4 month old and transitioning to the crib is hard right now. When she is sleeping good I’m going in there to check on her every 15 mins. The Owlet would be awesome to have to ease my worries. It sounds like it is a great product!

I seriously just heard of the owlet and wish I had this for my first baby who is now 12 months old! 🙂 She had a ton of allergies and reflux problems and we were at the NICU for several weeks hooked up to oxygen and was always under monitoring. I was allowed special permission to stay at the hospital because she couldn’t keep down any formula and I had to be on a special non dairy diet and she could only tolerate my breastmilk. Now we are expecting baby #2 at the beginning of September 🙂 the dr said my baby #2 will probably have the same problems with acid reflux and milk protein allergy. I can’t count the number of sleepless nights that i worried about my little girl choking. There is nothing scarier than your baby chocking and turning blue. This would definitely give me piece of mind with baby number two 🙂 fingers crossed.

I would love to have an owlet! My lLO is 10 weeks and having an owlet would allow me to sleep when he sleeps instead of checking on him a million times! I follow both you and owlet on Instagram also! Thank you for this giveaway! I love your blog!

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Hi, gorgeous! I'm so glad you're here. Welcome to The Fitnessista, a healthy lifestyle blog emphasizing quick workouts, quick recipes and adventures as a wife and mom. Though I am a certified personal trainer, group fitness instructor and weight loss specialist, the information posted here is not intended to substitute the advice of a medical professional. Please check out the About page for more info. Thank you for reading! <3